Parkinson's disease is a degenerative condition characterized by reduced concentration of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain. Levodopa (L-dopa or L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) is an immediate metabolic precursor of dopamine that, unlike dopamine, is able to cross the blood-brain barrier, and is most commonly used for restoring the dopamine concentration in the brain. For the past 40 years, levodopa has remained the most effective therapy for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
However, levodopa has a short half life in plasma that, even under best common current standard of care, results in pulsatile dopaminergic stimulation. Long-term therapy is therefore complicated by motor fluctuations and dyskinesia that can represent a source of significant disability for some patients. A therapeutic strategy that could ultimately deliver levodopa/dopamine to the brain in a more continuous and physiologic manner would provide the benefits of standard levodopa with reduced motor complications and is much needed by patients suffering from Parkinson's disease and other neurological or movement disorders (Olanow C W; Mov. Dis. 2008, 23(Suppl. 3):S613-S622). Sustained-release oral levodopa formulations have been developed, but, at best, such preparations have been found to be no more efficacious than standard tablets. Continuous administration of levodopa by intraduodenal administration or infusion has also been attempted by using ambulatory pumps or patches. Such treatments, especially intraduodenal, are extremely invasive and inconvenient.
The metabolic transformation of levodopa to dopamine is catalyzed by the aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase enzyme, a ubiquitous enzyme with particularly high concentrations in the intestinal mucosa, liver, brain and brain capillaries. Due to the possibility of extracerebral metabolism of levodopa, it is necessary to administer large doses of levodopa leading to high extracerebral concentrations of dopamine that cause nausea in some patients. Therefore, levodopa is usually administered concurrently with oral administration of a dopa decarboxylase inhibitor, such as carbidopa or benserazide, which reduces by 60-80% the levodopa dose required for a clinical response, and thus prevents certain of its side effects by inhibiting the conversion of levodopa to dopamine outside the brain. Various oral formulations together with inhibitors of enzymes associated with the metabolic degradation of levodopa are well known, for example, decarboxylase inhibitors such as carbidopa and benserazide, catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) inhibitors such as entacapone and tolcapone, and monoamone oxidase (MAO)-A or MAO-B inhibitors such as moclobemide, rasagiline or selegiline or safinamide. Currently available oral drugs include SINEMET® and SINEMET® CR sustained-release tablets that include carbidopa or levodopa; STALEVO® tablets containing carbidopa, entacapone and levodopa; and MADOPAR® tablets containing levodopa and benserazide. There is an on-going and urgent need for methods and compositions that can effect continuous stimulation of L-dopa to more effectively treat movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease. Nevertheless, no stable liquid formulation having e.g., an effective concentration in a volume suitable for use for subcutaneous or transdermal delivery has ever been achieved.